We are now wrapped up on our 15th week of 2021.
 
Although things are still a little weird in the world, we are slowly seeing a shift to the new normal for retail.

WHAT’S IN STORE THIS WEEK?

  • The importance of data selection and unification
  • March’s record-breaking month for retail
  • Why more retailers are becoming data-driven
  • Turn your foot traffic into more sales with a 90-day free trial of Doorcounts 3.0.

FOOT TRAFFIC INDEX

Here’s a look at last week’s foot traffic compared to the same time last year.

DC FEATURE OF THE WEEK

This is where each week we highlight a feature within Doorcounts. This week’s feature is:

Sales Conversion

Imagine being able to know exactly where your sales are being converted.

With the Sales Conversion tab, you can see which store, salesperson, or even what time of the day converts the most sales.
 
And to track sales conversion, it only takes one click from your salesperson.

To take a deep dive into a specific store, simply click the store name on the graph and it will show the sales conversion for all of the employees in that store. To take things even further, you can click an individual salesperson and see their sales conversion for each day in the selected period.

By clicking the Salesperson rank button, you will be able to see the ranking of your salespeople by sales conversion.

FOOT TRAFFIC TRENDS

Industry insights so you can convert your foot traffic into more sales.

Data selection and unification

The combination of the online revolution and the ever-changing retail landscape has made retail analytics more important than ever.
 
A major part of retail analytics is customer experience analytics.
 
A recent study found that 80% of retailers now use data analytics to set their user experience apart from the competition.
 
Do you know what drives more people to your store? Is it your radio ads or is it from your email marketing?
 
Without tracking KPIs and the effectiveness of your campaign, it is impossible to maximize the foot traffic in your store.

Marching on

After a 3% drop in February, retail sales saw a 9% increase in March.
 
The increase, which saw a major boost from another round of stimulus checks, had a major impact on the stock market.
 
As of last Thursday, the DOW hit 34,000 for the first time in history.  This comes just a month after the DOW hit 33,000 in March.
 
Hopes are high that we do not see a similar drop in April as we saw in February, the month after the stimulus checks were released.

A new look

For a while now, advertisers have worked on selling the experience rather than the product.
 
Now, retailers are trying to do the same thing.
 
Instead of simply showcasing the furniture or products, retailers are showcasing the brand experience beyond the website.
 
This shift comes to bring more foot traffic into stores with a new type of retail experience.
 
The LA Platform, a new shopping destination in Las Angeles, has taken a new approach to brick and mortar by combining elements of digital and physical.
 
While the platform has physical stores, it also includes a drive-through for customers to have a contactless pick-up option.

Payment methods

As we’ve said in the past, alternate payment methods such as BUY NOW PAY LATER have turned into promotions that are bringing customers into physical stores again.
 
If the pandemic has taught us anything, it’s that the most minute changes can make a big difference on foot traffic.
 
And once people are in your store, flexible payment options can make the difference between a sale and no sale.
 
A recent study found that 57% of people say digital payment options would impact their shopping decisions.
 
Many retailers have been broadening their payment options to include new payment methods such as Apple Pay and Klarna.
 
Klarna, which allows for flexible payment plans for customers, now has over 250,000 retail partners around the world.
 
At the end of the day, simplicity is becoming the key to the consumer experience.

NOTEWORTHY NEWS

Retail hackers: As more retail goes online, hackers are finding sophisticated ways to steal data.
 
Brick to click: The history of retail from mom and pops to online.
 
Suburb takeover: As suburban populations continue to expand, retailers struggle to find ideal store locations
 
Ai simplified: How to use minimal input to get the most out of augmented reality.

RANDOM IRRELEVANCE

Dogecoin: Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency, breaks trading platforms as its popularity surges.
 
UFO season: The pentagon confirms yet another UFO sighting this year.
 
Emergency landing: A WWII-era plane makes an emergency landing near a crowded Florida beach.
 
Climate change: Google Earth’s new time-lapse feature shows the effects of climate change